Charles Darwin described the island of Borneo as “one great wild untidy luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself". Maybe it’s the closeness with nature that makes the locals of Sabah, at the north of the island, so laid-back.

Sabah is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. A melting pot of cultures, Malaysia expends a lot of political energy and newspaper column inches promoting a “let’s-all-get-along" policy. Borneo, by comparison, is laid-back about people’s differences. “The One Malaysia policy is already practised here," says our guide when I ask him what is distinctive about Sabah locals. The people, and that attitude in particular, is what lingers.

Beach holidays are fabulous, sublime. But after the first day and a half at the five-star Gaya Island Resort, owned by the Malaysian YTL Corporation, your eyes wander to the kayaks lying idle on the golden sand. The mind wanders to the neatly hung flippers and snorkel in the beach hut by the jetty. What curiosities lie below the calm aqua marine of the South China Sea?

Dynamite fishing is still practised (illegally) in parts of Asia and Borneo hasn’t escaped. Yet it still has some of the best dive sites in the world (including Sipadan, Mabul and the Layang Layang atoll).

When restlessness sets in, it’s time to try the resort’s extensive menu of diversions, each punctuated by a mandatory interval at the pool to escape the steaming humidity.

We trek off into the pristine, tropical rainforest in search of the island’s famed proboscis monkey. The elusive critters are nowhere to be seen but the resort’s resident conservationist Justin “Jungle Boy" Juhun entertains us with cheerful tales of extinguishing goldfish by tossing nitrogen-rich vine granules into his father’s garden pond as a boy – a traditional fishing technique that reduces the level of oxygen in the water.

That evening we board the resort’s 19-metre luxury yacht to watch the sunset, drink in hand. It’s almost as good as the beach-side barbecue, cooked Bajau Laut-style with infusions of fresh Asian flavours of lime and turmeric (and a startling absence of carbs).

“The resort promotes a more natural, analogue experience designed to encourage guests outdoors," our guide says with a completely straight face as he shows off our gloriously appointed Malay-styled villa with clear views of Mount Kinabalu and a walk-in wardrobe rivalling most Sydney apartments in size.

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“Fat chance," I think, as I eye the crisp white sheets and gigantic candlelit bathtub. As someone who used to think of Asia as a stopover to somewhere else rather than a holiday destination in its own right, I’m converted. Weeks later I still suffer sporadic hankerings for roti and the majestic berry compote created by the resort’s gifted pastry chef, Yusra Abd Hamid.

There’s a soothing sense of solitude to Gaya Island Resort. There is no bustle of nearby villages as it is fully self-contained.

Most people tack five days at Gaya Island onto the end of a two- or three-week adventure around Borneo pursuing such activities as climbing Mt Kinabalu, visiting the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary or gawking at gruesome scalps at the Mari Mari headhunters’ village.

One of Gaya’s attractions is its award-winning spa village. When I visit, my cheerful masseuse, Angela, directs me to an airy bungalow nestled in the mangroves and plies me with a local concoction laced with ginger, insisting that it’s good for my circulation.

Given the heat, I’m not sure this is necessary but I comply because she’s so hospitable and because she’s soaking my feet in cool, spice-scented water.

As it is in other industries, a natural tension exists between Malaysia’s resort operators and conservationists, who are keen to preserve the island’s ecosystem.

Borneo has the world’s oldest rainforest and 90 per cent of the world’s wild orang-utan population. It’s encouraging to see Gaya Island Resort’s owner has created a turtle sanctuary, located at its private beach, and has invested in school education programs to promote sustainable living. The resort only opened this year and was still in soft-launch mode when we visited, so management was still working some kinks out of the system. The kitchen hadn’t quite grasped the subtlety of medium-rare versus well done. But YTL has brought its crack management team from the much-lauded Pangkor Laut Resort – whose visitors include Tony Blair, Keira Knightly, Sting and Martha Stewart – to apply finishing touches. General manager Jeffrey Mong turned Pangkor Laut into YTL’s signature jungle resort and will no doubt work his magic on Gaya Island, too.